It’s no secret that Social Media is the new platform for customer service, and Social Media Giant, Twitter has swooped in to help connect company profiles to their millions of followers.

In the past year, many businesses took on social media to fit the digital audience’s needs, and today we can safely say that social customer service is good customer service (when done right, of course). Users are now taking their experiences to social media, and while they can become a brand’s advocates (by posting pictures of their latte art or tagging their favorite clothing brands, for example), they can just as easily bring a business reputation to the ground.

The new features by Twitter help businesses let their customers know that they are available and willing to provide the best social service they possibly can.

Here is a deeper dive into the new features and how they help the customer and the company alike:

1. Support Options

In each company dashboard, settings can now be enabled to activate these new widgets. The first being a “Provides Support” publication when someone searches for a username or tags the company in a tweet.

2. Display Support Hours of Active Response

Another option for activation is an option to publicize the best “Support Hours” that they can be reached in case a user needs help or would like to send a direct message. This displays complete transparency to the customer, leading to a better expectations and satisfaction. If a user can see that their post or message is outside of the popular response time, they will be more patient to wait for one. This is the golden ticket that companies have been waiting for – a digital “we are open” sign for their customer support services. Take a look at an example that Twitter published recently to highlight these tools.

3. A Clearer Direct Message Button

In Addition, customers can now see a very visible new option to send a private message directly to a company for help, or comments. This makes sure that the user won’t get frustrated looking for a way to privately contact the business with questions or comments. These tools are all helping support the customer and highlight the fact that their favorite companies are there for them in multiple means and services.

So what’s the bottom line here?

These new features can give businesses the opportunity to increase customer loyalty, better build their brand, and even gain new customers by making it clear that they give high priority to customer service.

However, there’s a catch.

This makes adding these features quite a risk for businesses, who can rise or fall in 140 characters or less. Companies need to understand that it is one thing to offer a feature such as greater visibility to direct messaging, but it is another thing altogether to have the manpower to respond to the customer. Social media is a two-way street, and it is no good to have a platform for discussion, without response or responsibility.

By making their customer service availability and priority so visible, companies will need to back up these claims, and live up to their promises. Customers will now know which companies really put their customers first.